Don't Let Go
by sapphire-eyed-dreamer
Summary: It hurts when you lost one. What will you do if you lost the other one? RoxasxNaminexRiku


**Don't Let Go**

**Summary: **It hurts when you lost one. What will you do if you lost the other one?

**Author's note: **Right, my first KH fic. Go easy on me, please. I got the idea right after I finshed my College entrance exams. Yes, I know, my brains are much scrambled like eggs when I thought of this story, but...I just had to write it down! Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Kingdom Hearts, I'd pass the property rights immediately to Tetsuya Nomura.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wiped the sweat from my face as I trudged up the dusty trail, readjusting my backpack and drawing my silver (for the record, it's not WHITE!) hair away from my hair. Damn, I really needed a haircut. It was summer, and me and my friends had decided to climb the mountains for some green scenery instead of going to the beach like we used to. At first I thought it was a brilliant idea. Now, I'm starting to think of it as demented. It's not like I'm a total wimp. I'm actually physically fit, especially if you hand me a keyblade. But then again, I can be lazy sometimes. And sitting on the beach relaxing sounds better than hiking up here. Focusing on the two figures ahead of me, I hollered out to them.

"Who's dumb idea was this again?" I asked.

Sora turned around, frowning. "You callin' my ideas dumb?" he said, annoyed.

"Maybe." I snickered. Oh yeah. Here, meet my friends. That guy in the black hiking clothes with the hair that looks like 5 tons of hair gel has been applied to it is named Sora. My best buddy. We've been friends since, like, nursery. He's a total sap. But don't tell him I told you that. Very cheerful and hyper, with a cheesy smile always plastered on his face. Yup, that's Sora Strife.

"I don't think it's dumb though. It's nice to see some new scenery aside from the beach." spoke the girl next to him. Red hair, pink hiking clothes, and a charming smile that balances out Sora's own cheesy ones, that, folks, is Kairi Gainsborough. She's the person that completed me and Sora's trio. Together, the three of us has been friends since small. You could say we were inseparable. Me and Sora would never pick on Kairi. That's why she's usually the peacemaker when me and Sora fight. Turning my attention back to my best bud, I see him shrugging and blushing at Kairi's comment. Typical.

"Thanks Kai."

This time it was Kairi's turn for her cheeks to match her hair. Oh boy.

You see, we have, err, what you'd call a 'history'...the three of us. Me and Sora kinda had feelings for Kairi that weren't 'just friends'. Those were hectic times. I nearly lost my friendship with Sora. Kairi was special to me. But it seemed that they cared for each other. A lot. Though they didn't admit it, I knew something was goin' on between the two of them.

Another spiff that added to that was I joined a rebel group during my first year in high school. Cutting classes, vandalism, bullying, stealing...I stopped being friends with the two of them, and when Sora tried to confront me, everything cracked and things got dirty. I thought I could win Kairi over as well. But then, everyone will lose...right? So I decided to repent. Besides, that Ansem guy seemed to be a candidate for the local mental hospital. I tried to clear the mess I made but everyone seems to see me as this weird, angsty, don't-touch-me-if-you-don't-wanna-die guy. Sora and Kairi were the only ones who stuck with me. And everything seem to fell back in place. Except the part where Sora and Kairi are still ONLY best friends. While I was gone, some MAJOR things happened. And I don't have a blindfold over my eyes you know...I can see something was up.

I just which I knew what those MAJOR things are.

Really, it was weird when they start talking about something that they only know. They exchange this furtive smiles and everything...But, as the good friend I am, I kindly dismissed it as a part of growing up. Soon, things started to be fun again. Me and Sora reverted back to being buddies again, and I found things more enjoyable. One, I got my best friends back. Two, it was fun teasing them with each other (oh you have no idea). Three, I don't have to worry that Sora would pull out his own keyblade when he sees me with Kairi, and I could be with Kairi and I won't feel nervous like I used to.

So Kairi's like a little sister for me now. And if Sora hurts her, I'll hunt him til my dying day. Hey, I never have any real siblings y'know? Subject of conversation now, though, has ran up the slope that we were walking on (where does this guy get his energy from!) and hollered to me and the other two behind me.

"Hey! Hurry up, I can almost see the waterfalls!" he cried, and I turned my attention to the two lagging blondes behind me. These are our new additions to our group. We added them when we met them during high school. First, Naminé Valentine.

Naminé is that girl that seemed like she fell from heaven. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. Blonde hair over one shoulder, perfect blue eyes. I know I'm in love. During second year in high school, she was in almost all of my classes. I was the victim of taunts and strange looks but she'd always leave the class with me, muttering under her breath. "Just ignore them...keep walking away...just ignore them..." Hanging out with me branded her weird among my schoolmates, but Kairi and Sora welcomed her in with open arms. Especially the latter, since, according to her, she hadn't had any real girlfriends to talk to. When it was Naminé's turned to be bullied, me and Sora were there, and Kairi would protect her like a twin sister. Naminé always had this 'frail girl' image, that's why she was a favorite to bully...and that's why I felt it was my duty to protect her. I couldn't resist her request for favors. I mean, who wouldn't? But her last favor was a bit, well, we'll get to that. I don't wanna talk about it.

"It's her fault! She's lagging behind!" said the blonde boy next to my princess, poking her face and flicking her hair playfully.

"Ow! Roxie, quit it!" she called him by the nickname that, according to him, annoyed him so much. Funny, I never see him REALLY angry about it though.

"Aww, can't Namie take a little ruffling of feathers?" he smirked, flicking her pale blonde hair again. Oh, so now he has HIS OWN nickname for HER! That's it.

"Roxas Highwind, you better stop that if you don't want to have a duel with me in the middle of a rainy night out on the streets!" I warned dangerously, calling him by his whole name. He's always tormenting Naminé. According to him, it's to toughen her up. I call that bullying.

Jessie McCartney (what! They look a lot like each other you know...) rolled his eyes and glared at me. "Yes, Father." he snorted. I felt a need to suddenly retort back with something but bit back my tongue. No, not in front of the girl of my dreams, and, no, I won't sink to his level. Then again, we already are level.

I guess I really have no choice but to talk about it.

Meet Roxas, addition #5 to our group but #13 to the 'organization' in our school. They're a group of rebels (like my group back in my first year) but are seriously more annoying. Their leader, Xemnas, is even more of a wacko than Ansem was. Plus, his hair got these weird wing-things that gives him the image that his head could fly off. But that's beside the point. All the members of his 'organization' has to have the letter 'X' in their names. How crazy was that? And Roxas was part of that. He's the org's local "skater boy', wielding two frickin' keyblades. But that's not what pisses me off.

One day I saw him talking to Naminé, and, well, anyone from Org XIII that is talking to my crush is bad news. That's why I challenged him to a fight. Well, I got my ass-whooped. I mean, he out numbered my weapon two to one! To add fuel to the fire though, for the rest of the following weeks, Naminé got closer to him. (They have all their classes together.) She begged us to help him get out of the org since, according to what Roxas told her, the freaks in the black jackets were blackmailing him so he was part of them. She definitely had a knack for saving lost boys (like me). He wanted to quit, but can't. So we helped the guy out, Sora and me (reluctantly). I softened for the guy when he saved Naminé from this perverted org member (forgot his name), but that was how far I was gonna accept it. Naminé then started to bring him along our trips, gimmicks, and stuff. At first, he'd only talk to Naminé and Sora (when they first met, they immediately hit it off...not only that but they looked a lot like each other too...). But soon he started to open up to Kairi and me. Now, he's part of the group.

I'll like the guy if he'll just do me a favor and stop tormenting my Princess.

"Look, there it is!" Kairi's voice snapped me out of my glaring contest with Roxas. The two quickened their footsteps and I followed suit, stopping at the view. There was a grand waterfall, ferns, flowers and an assortment of plants framing the natural waterworks. Kairi started removing her shoes so she can soak her feet in the water. Naminé put down her backpack, in pretense of pulling out her sketchbook to sketch the lovely scene. Roxas was already holding a stone-skipping match against Sora. I stopped, unsure of what to do. At first I considered watching Naminé sketch, but somehow, my legs froze and I couldn't approach her. Instead, they veered of for the natural stone stairs that led to a small cliff at the back of the falls.

I stared down at the view as I got there. It was a steep fall. About 40 feet before your feet hit the next layer of ground. The bad part was that you wouldn't notice the cliff. It was well hidden among some giant leaves of a tropical plant. An idiot wouldn't dare to jump from this. But then, who would jump from this? My thoughts wandered from the rocky brown cliff to those two blue orbs. Naminé. It's been so long since I treasured what I felt for her. Maybe it was time I told her? She was the only one who understood me. The only one who knew the misery I felt sometimes.

That's right. Maybe I should. Nothing's holding me back. Right?

Determined, I headed back to the direction of our mini-camp.

"Naminé I'm really sorry!"

Huh?

A piece of paper flew to my face and I caught it, recognizing it as one of Naminé's sketches. When I tried to get a clearer view of it though, it was snatched by a hand. Naminé's expression was angry, and she stuffed it back into her sketchbook, turning around to face a sorrowful looking Roxas. That's when I saw it. At least twenty or more pages was scattered about, and Kairi and Sora were doing their best to rescue them (Sora was fishing several papers out of the mini pool). As Kairi handed some of the rescued pages to her best friend, she snatched it and jammed it randomly inside the notebook, face flushed, shoulders shaking.

"Don't...talk to me!" she sobbed, hugging her sketchbook to her chest, and with tears in her eyes, ran to the place I just got from. Roxas sat on a boulder and repeatedly banged his head on it. Sora rushed to stop him just as he howled "How was I supposed to know that some of her sketches weren't fastened to her sketchbook! I was just looking at it!" he cried. Kairi looked at him sympathetically. "Without her permission?" she asked tentatively. Roxas stared up at her for a moment, his face red (probably from banging his face on the rock or something...hell, I don't care).

"I didn't know the sketches were of...argh!"

I left them in search of Naminé, Sora's words "Stop it! You're gonna get a concussion you know that!" ringing throughout the clearing as Roxas started banging his head again. I quickened my pace and saw her, walking in angry strides. I finally found my voice.

"Naminé!"

She turned around, and her expression softened. Her face was red, and her eyes were puffy from crying. 'Oh, Riku. Um, hi. Is there something wrong?" she sniffed. I couldn't have picked a better opportunity to badmouth Roxas.

"Roxas is an idiot. It's okay Naminé, he's just a nobody. Don't mind him." I told her, restraining myself from saying out words that would make my narration an unfriendly one for the younger readers. A smile lift up her face, but there was a saddened look in them.

"A nobody huh?" she turned away from me and started walking forward, slowly as if in thought, sketchbook in hands. I watched her silently, thinking. Should I tell her now? I followed her, keeping my distance.

"Um...Naminé?"

"Yeah?"

She was still walking, her eyes on the disheveled sketchbook. This was gonna be a lot harder than I thought. I swallowed and stared at my shoes, suddenly finding the mud on them interesting as I tried to hide the blush on my face.

"There's something I wanna tell you. I really l--"

My words were cut off when I heard a scream. I wrenched my gaze from my mud-soaked shoes and looked up, horrified, to find the blue-hiking-gear-dressed girl gone, her sketchbook near the giant plant that hid the cliff. No. She couldn't!

My feet ran by themselves and I knelt down to look at the ravine. There she was, clinging to some rocks. One of her feet had found a support but I wasn't sure if it could hold. I stretched out my arms, reaching out for her. If she'll just give them to me...

"Naminé!"

I wasn't the only one who spoke though. Her head looked below, and my eyes followed. Roxas face was pale, his eyes wide in fear. Naminé suddenly hid her face again and tried to climb up to reach me. She screamed as her footing almost gave way. Damn, why can't my arms reach her! I was crawling on my stomach. I shouted out to her.

"Naminé take my hand! I'll pull you up!"

She looked up at me, distressed, and I saw Sora and Kairi appear below. Kairi gasped and Sora started running around like an idiot. "Damn, we need something to catch her!" he cried, pulling tufts of his spiky hair.

"Naminé jump!"

My mouth froze open. What?

Roxas was the one who spoke. His arms were outstretched, ready to catch her. Don't start now you idiot. Naminé was losing her grip. She stared at Roxas, same distress in her face as she did with me. I held out my hand. Come on!

"Come on Naminé!" I cried, almost begged. Please. Just this once. Her eyes locked onto mine, and I can see tears forming in her eyes, probably from the effort.

Roxas spoke again. "I'll catch you, I promise. I won't let you get hurt, no matter what! That was my promise, right! I'm keeping it!"

Promise? I suddenly felt confused. Naminé's eyes widened briefly. The rocks near her foot was disintegrating. Sora and Kairi had left to get the picnic blanket, just in case to catch Naminé lest she should slip. Her eyes closed briefly, and for a moment there was a silence. Both me and Roxas waited, pleading silently.

Finally, her eyes opened, and they met mine. She smiled. One of her hands released her grip. A wave of relief and bliss surged through me, confident now that she's taking my hand. I bent lower to reach her.

But what happened next felt like someone had signed my death sentence.

Her other hand let go.

She slowly closed her eyes as gravity acted on her body. I tried to shout but no voice came. Below, I saw Roxas react quickly. He planted his feet on the ground and the moment she made contact with him, held her tight so that any damage that she could sustain was transferred to him.

"Roxas! Naminé! Are you two alright!"

"I'll go get the first aid kit!"

Sora and Kairi's voices were lost as I saw the scene again in my head. Again. And again. And again. Her. Letting go. Was it just me or did my surroundings got foggy? Yeah, it was just me. I realized that there were some tears in my eyes. And yeah, it's hard to ignore that lump in my throat. I didn't knew why. Why did that scene felt so...symbolic?

"I'm so sorry!" Sobbing.

"No, I'm sorry! I was stupid to look at your sketchbook like that...but..." Apologetic but gentle.

Had I missed a part of the story here like I missed Sora and Kairi's? Why? What? When? How?

I drew back from my position, not caring that I soiled my clothes, and saw Naminé's sketchbook. The one piece of paper she snatched from me was jutting out of the edges, slightly wet. I pulled it out. And it felt like a great curtain was revealed to show the truth.

The sketch was of her and Roxas. It was unmistakable. He was protecting her, keyblades at hand and she was smiling, cheering for him. I leafed through the other sketches that were folded and not attached. Him, her, some of Sora and Kairi together, one of me giving her a noogie...mostly of Roxas and Naminé together. I stopped at one, showing both of them holding hands, their back to the paper. Those dark blonde spikes and pale blonde locks undeniable. They were standing somewhere high (probably a clock tower) and was watching the sunset (or was it the sunrise?). There were words written at the bottom.

"I was a nobody...until I met you...

Now...because of you...I feel like I'm a somebody..."

I folded it away with the others, the answers now hitting me smack-dab in the face. All I ever cared was about MY feelings. I didn't even try to understand how she felt. All I ever cared about was MY loneliness, MY sadness. Maybe that's why I lost Kairi. And now I lost Naminé. All because of MY selfishness. I stayed there, scrunched up, deep in thought among the plants, until I heard Sora's voice.

"Where's Riku?"

Wiping my face free from wet and dirt, I got up, grabbed Naminé's sketchbook, and shouted out hoarsely.

"I'll be down there guys!"

I headed back to our site.

Now I have two little sisters to take care of. Sora and Roxas better clean up their act.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a feeling Namiku fans were expecting something else in the climax back there. Now that you've read, please review! No flaming please, I'm new to the fan fiction writing industry! Have mercy on me!


End file.
